Top 10 (comics) - Overview

Overview

The story revolves around the day-to-day lives of the police officers at the 10th Precinct Police Station and is similar in tone to classic television police dramas like Hill Street Blues, which Moore has described as an influence. The book also addresses a wide range of prejudices and issues, but with a science-fiction twist; monsters, robots and fantasy creatures often face the bigotry and problems faced by real-world human minorities.

The series is noted for its comic-book references and visual "sight gags" relating to the genre. For example, a caped street-corner watch-vendor uses a cardboard sign advertising "signal watches", and a hot-dog vendor cooks his wares with heat vision. One plotline involves a boy-band called Sidekix whose hit single was called "Holy Broken Hearts". Likewise, most advertising, signage and graffiti in the Top 10 universe contains references to the world of comic books and super powers (e.g. a clothing store called "The Phonebooth") and crowd scenes usually feature many characters from sci-fi and comic books.

The primary Top 10 series was a 12-issue series between 2000 and 2001. Follow-ups included 2003's 5-issue mini-spinoff Smax and 2005's graphic novel Top 10: The Forty-Niners. 2005 also saw the publication of a 5-issue mini-series, written by Paul Di Filippo and illustrated by Jerry Ordway, titled Top 10: Beyond the Farthest Precinct.

In 2008-2009, another 4-issue series, Top 10: Season Two, was written by Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon, with art by Gene Ha. A single issue 'Special' set 'Two weeks' later was also produced.

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